300 new cases uncovered during NHS maternity scandal

A further 300 cases of deaths and serious injuries of babies at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SATH) have been discovered.

The cases were found during an ongoing inquiry that was ordered by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017.

The inquiry was initially ordered to investigate 23 cases of maternity care at SATH. This was then increased to 104 cases, and now a further 300 have been found. Many of the new cases involve circumstances where babies have died in the final stages of labour or have been still born.

The aim of the independent inquiry is to find out whether these deaths and injuries between 1998 and 2017 were caused as a result of medical negligence by the maternity staff at SATH.

Parents with brain damaged children born at SATH have reported being pressured into natural births. In high risk cases, having a baby by caesarean can significantly reduce the likelihood of brain damage.

Other cases have involved midwives failing to monitor the baby’s heartrate, and as a result causing them to die either before, during or shortly after labour.

The Care Quality Commission inspected SATH in November 2018 and stressed safety concerns over the trust’s maternity services.

The inquiry continues.

Chantae Clark, Paralegal in the Medical Negligence team at Ashtons Legal, comments: “It is extremely sad news to hear that the investigation has uncovered yet more cases of negligent maternity care. The tragedy is that these deaths were avoidable. Even where death hasn’t been the outcome, many babies have suffered severe brain injuries which could’ve been prevented. It is completely inadequate and this maternity service requires serious improvement. Clearly, more needs to be done to ensure that care is delivered in a way that makes sure that mothers and their babies are kept safe.”